The Forgotten Soldier
by MysticalVision
Summary: What will Hermione do when she's forced to marry the man whose hated her since her first year, and when she isn't sure that her actual husband by choice is even alive? Told in Hermione's POV
1. Chapter 1

**The Forgotten Soldier**

Harry's dead after his last battle against Voldemort. Ron and Hermione are married. There's a battle between the good and the dark side, and Ron decides to fight in it alone, without Hermione, which only results in him getting captured and locked up in a prison where the death eaters kept all Order members. Then, out of the blue, Lucius Malfoy, one of the major leaders of the prison, decides to strike up a bargain with Hermione. He tells her that he will not kill her husband, if she agree's to marry his son, Draco Malfoy. Told in Hermione's POV.

**Prologue: The Never-Ending War**

Life without Ron was hard. Even then, it being a few months with him gone and missing within the war, things were hard. Just thinking about him made me, the well-kept one of the family, cry and lock myself up in my room, while Ginny tried her hardest to calm me down, and Fred and George complained about all the drama and the "negative energy" I gave off. Now of course now I know they were just trying to get under my skin, but their timing was very bad to try and do so.

After all, my husband, the man that took seven years to realize that I loved him and that he loved me before we even got married two years later, was gone at war, and could have been dying in an alleyway, with his body stuffed in a trash can for all I knew. And each time I got an image of things like that or images of him dead or dying, I blamed myself for what I saw.

After all, I shouldn't have let him go alone to fight off evil. I knew better then anyone else that Ron had trouble when it came to certain spells, and anyway, he could barely take care of his pet rat when he had it, so how was he possibly supposed to take care of himself during a war. It wasn't like I could control it though, he wouldn't let me go anyway, and if he found out I left, he probably wouldn't have spoken to me for months, but he wouldn't have divorced me. Oh no, he loved me way too much to do that.

_Tap, tap, tap! _Is what I heard that one morning in particular at the front door of the burrow. I remember it clearly, because it had been the fifth month that I had gone with Ron away, and I had been writing my 15th letter to him that month, only to have the last fourteen with no replies. "Hermione dear, do you think you could get that?" Mrs. Weasley said, looking over something she had cooked up for dinner.

Mrs. Weasley had taken Ron's absence a bit harder then I had. When Ron first told her, he was leaving, she simply cried for weeks. Even I myself had officially decided that I would not cry in front of him, but I supposed that her plan in particular had been to watch her cry before he even left, to make him feel bad enough to stay. Unfortunately, it hadn't worked.

"Okay." I said, simply, getting up, with my hair in a messy bun, my heart beating a bit fast.

Every time the door rang or was knocked on those few months my heart would practically skip beats, as if Ron would be the one standing behind the door. Sometimes I use to picture myself, opening the door and seeing him there, and then giving him the biggest hug and never let him go. He had always been such a hug able guy after all, sort of like a teddy bear. So when I opened the door, you can only imagine the disappointment, shock, and fear that I felt when I found Lucius Malfoy standing in front of me.

Lucius Malfoy had never been one of those men that... favored me, really, but then again, it wasn't like I was one of his biggest fans either. After all, the man was a death eater, and he belonged in Askaban, but then again, over the years, Askaban itself was crumbling apart, and he, like so many others, had escaped from it, with the help of their fellow Death Eaters.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, crossing my arms, my hopeful face turning into one of disgust.

"Good day, Miss Granger." Lucius said, his voice just as cold and calm as I remembered it to be, "My, my, you've certainly grown, now haven't you?"

"What," I spat, again, "are you doing here?"

"Do you think I could come in," He suggested, his icy colored eyes scanning me, "for further explanation, of course."

I examined him in return, and looked behind him. Of course I wasn't just going to let the man in, that would have meant that I actually trusted him a bit. "Give me your wand first." I said, holding out my hand.

Lucius frowned, taking his wand out of his pocket and handing it to me. "You really must learn how to trust people. If you continue to act so cold people will really begin to dislike you." He said, with that smirk of his.

'_Oh, you're one to talk about people disliking me...' _I thought to myself, as I opened the door a bit, to allow him in, and told him, "I'm not some naive five year old, Mr. Malfoy. So save you're how to be stupid pep talks for someone who actually cares, and for someone who will actually buy it, preferably someone who doesn't know you."

Lucius snorted, as he took a seat in the kitchen. "Why hello, Mrs. Weasley." Lucius said, sounding as though he was in a good mood, which was odd enough as it is.

Mrs. Weasley turned around, her eyes widening as she saw him. She looked over at me, questioningly. "Mum, do you think you could leave Mr. Malfoy and I to speak for a moment, please?" I said, looking at her.

"Mum . . . " Lucius said, with an eyebrow raised, looking around the smile, over stuffed kitchen distastefully.

Be careful, she mouthed to me, as she walked out of the kitchen, after turning down the stove. I turned around, and looked over at Lucius. "Now what's this about?" I asked, just wanting to know what was going about.

"What? You're not even going to offer me some tea?" Lucius said, taking a seat, smirking over at me, "You really do need to learn how to treat guests."

I rolled my eyes, and shook my head. "You're not a guest, sir, you're an inconvenience, there is surely a difference." I said, and pushed forward, "Now tell me why you're here."

"Didn't Ronald love his mother's tea, Miss Granger?" Lucius said, getting up and pouring some out on his own, whipping his hands off on his pants after he touched the bowl that held the tea.

"It's Mrs. Weasley, and yes he did, but I don't see why that matters." I said, facing him as he drank some of the tea, watching as he walked around the kitchen, as though it were his own, accept, infected.

"He liked a lot of things, didn't he. He liked chess, tea, Quidditch, and he loved you, am I right?" Lucius said, taking another seat, after grabbing a napkin, and whipped his hands after he took every sip.

"Yes, yes he did. I... I don't see where you're leading me to here, Mr. Malfoy." I said, and suddenly thoughts of something being wrong with Ron began to pop into my head, one by one.

"Do you think he likes living, Miss Granger, I mean, Mrs. Weasley?" Lucius said, now looking straight into my eyes.

My heart skipped beats now, and my hands began to sweat. "What have you done with him?" I asked, sitting down across from him.

"Me? I have done nothing to him... yet." Lucius said, taking another sip of the tea.

I gulped down hard, looking at him. So that meant that Ron was still alive, which yes, I was happy about, but I knew there was so much more. "Yet?" I stuttered, glaring at him, "Where is he? What's happened to him... Mr. Malfoy, I have the feeling that you're not here to inform me on how my husband is doing."

Lucius smirked, placing down his cup of tea completely, with his hands folded onto the table. "I've come here to strike a bargain with you, Hermione. Just a simple bargain."

Was it really that simple though? Of course I didn't actually think so. Oh no, anyone who knew of Lucius' past, knew that the bargain was going to be most likely very much far from simple. "What is it?"

"Well, it's very easy to comprehend. See, I will allow your husband to live, if you, marry my son." Lucius said, as though it were nothing.

I laughed, after all, all the facts didn't seem to come close to fitting. Just think, I'm the muggleborn, and I was in Gryffindor, so why would the Malfoy's, the purest of purebloods want me, to marry their son, who seemed to have hated me all through my years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It just didn't make any sense. "You surely can't be serious." I said, rubbing my eyes.

"Serious?" Lucius said, the smirk fading from his lips, "I assure you, Ms. Granger, that I am nothing less then serious."

Guess I was wrong, right? "It's Mrs. Weasley, and you are... hysterical! Insane! Why would your own son want to marry me of all people? Why don't you find someone else? Anyone else?"

"It's a... personal matter, Ms. Granger, that I would care not to explain myself, but I'm sure once you talk to Draco, everything will come to an understanding." He said, as he stood up, and pushed in his seat.

"Where are you going? This conversation is far from over Mr. Malfoy! You can't honestly believe that I would marry your son!" I spat, standing up as well.

"For your husband's sake, my dear, I'm sure you won't have a problem with marrying my son." Lucius said, and then give me a smile, "Now, I will expect you packed and ready to leave this... sick excuse of a home by tomorrow, where I will send someone to pick you up here. I'll make sure to have those divorce papers in and done and ready for you to sign by the end of the week."

It was simply happening to fast. "Wait, to leave for where? Why are you doing this to me, sir? I have stayed out of your way ever since you were sent to Askaban. Frankly, I haven't spoken about you. Why me?" I asked him, blocking his way out.

"To the Malfoy Mansion, of course, your new home." Lucius said, pushing me to the side as he began to walk, and turned around as I continued to speak, "Now, now, Hermione, all we be further explained further on, but truly, you should think of this as a blessing. Honestly, why would you want to stay with these... redheaded rats?"

I took another hard gulp. My brain began to thump at the same pace as my heart, and my throat began to hurt, as a result of my body readying me to begin to cry. I watched as he began to walk toward the front door, and I followed him, and said as he opened the door, "These people love me!"

Lucius froze. Now that I think about it, what a stupid thing to say to suck a man like Lucius Malfoy. I mean, he surly didn't love. How could he? Well, at least I certainly couldn't picture him loving anyone... other then himself. "Love isn't everything, Hermione. Remember that. Surly, it will come in handy once you are married to my son. Which you will be, whether you like it or not." He said, quietly, and then walked out, shutting the door behind him.

A tear began to stride down my cheek. I know, how unlike me to just let him do this, but at that point I had not been thinking of the horror of having to marry Draco Malfoy, or the possible reasons why I would have to, but of Ron. If that would have kept him alive longer, and more time to escape or get away from where ever he was, then he would come save me, I was sure of it. Even now it surprises me how much hope and faith I could have in just one person, but then again, that's what love can do to some people. Make them think unreasonably. Surly, Lucius didn't even take a moment to think about what love could do to a person... but then again, maybe I really didn't either.

**A/N So, do you like it, or not? Yes or no and why? Don't worry, the next chapter will fully explain why she has to marry Draco.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Learning, doubting, and hoping, could really kill a person all at once." Hermione Granger now must move in with the Malfoy's, after Lucius came to her with a bargain, one of which was not in her favor in either choice she made. Why Hermione in particular has to marry Draco Malfoy, will be explained in this chapter. "Why would the girl, whom he had seemed to hate more then anyone else over the years, be the one that he was going to have to marry?"

**Chapter 1: Learning, Doubting, Hoping**

"_Hermione, I have no choice. I have to leave, and you know it's only for the best." Ron had explained, while we were in the middle of an argument- or, how I would like to put it to make it sound nicer, a simple disagreement._

_I watched as he began to shove clothes into a simple backpack, moving rather quickly, as though he was in such a rush to get away from me, which I knew wasn't the case, but when the man you love is about to leave you for one of the most heroic reasons you can think of, all you can really be is over-dramatic and over emotional. Running a hand through my hair, I walked back and forth, on the opposite side of the bed, while he looked through his dresser on the opposite side of the bed, from where I was. _

"_So you're just going to leave, then? Throw yourself into a war that seems as though will never end." I spat, grabbing his back pack and taking all the clothes out, only to begin to fold them neatly and place them back into the bag, looking up every once and a while to see what he was doing._

_I needed to keep my hands busy, so then I didn't end up slapping him or grabbing for my wand so then I could hex him into oblivion and make him unable to remember that he was just about to leave me and his family. "The more help the Order and the Ministry gets, the sooner it will all come to an end... you know that, Mione." He said, grabbing his wallet, and watching as I re-packed his bag for him, smiling a bit._

_My eyes met his, and my heart sunk.__He moved from where he was, and walked over to me, placing his hands on my waist and forcing me to look into those big blue eyes of his head, those eyes that I couldn't say no to any longer, those eyes that gave me butterflies at just the first sight of them. Now I know plenty of people who have blue eyes, but those eyes never looked back at me like these did. No matter what, even when we would argue, I knew when he looked at me there was care in his eyes, and that care never caused me to doubt how much he loved me._

"_I love you, Hermione." He told me, and placed his hand under my chin to make me look at him when I had turned my head away, "I love you more then life itself..."_

"_Then why are you doing this?" I exclaimed, my voice letting out a bit of a yelp as I fought to stop myself from crying and hid my emotions, "Why are you leaving me? Why won't you let me come with you?"_

_I never really realized when Ron had become such a bold romantic. Half the time he just had that goofy grin on his face, and barely was ever half as smooth as some of the other men I had met over the years, and barely had any sweet talking abilities left in his tall, lanky body, but there were times when suddenly I would melt not only under his eyes, but under the sound of his soothing voice. When did his voice become soothing? I'm not exactly sure... maybe it's an ability gained after sex and marriage._

"_Hermione..." Ron said, with a sigh, now looking away from me, his hands still place gently on my waist, where I would have preferred him to keep them for the rest of our years together, rather then separate from me, "You know how bad things are now. Shops in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade are shutting down because there's students dying in front of their doorsteps. Hogwart's is falling apart... you know they haven't been able to find a headmaster that could have kept it together as well as Dumbledore did. The war is spreading, and it'll only be too soon until it gets as close as here. Now, if anything, I would prefer to have the brightest witch of my age to be with my family, rather then with me. Most importantly though, I would prefer to have the woman I love more then anything else in the world, here and safe, then in danger with me."_

_I bit my lip. His words weren't making this any easier, and nether was that cute smile he gave me after saying all of that. "I won't feel safe without you with me." I told him, my voice beginning to crack slightly._

_This constant determination of mine to get him to stay was beginning to annoy him a bit, and I could tell by the slight twitch of his eyebrow as he let out a breath while he looked at me again. Ronald Weasley had, for the first time, bit his tongue, and decided not to argue back with me, pulling me close and leaning in to give me one of those kisses that left me begging for more, only to pull away after a moment, and lean his head up against my own. "I'll come back to you... I promise." He had said, and with that, he grabbed his bag, and walked out of our bedroom, unable to look at me again, probably because he was afraid that if he did, he would've stayed._

_I should've made him look at me again._

"Hermione, get up!" Ginny had said that morning, shaking me hard to get me up, "The Malfoy's driver is here to... to take you..."

Yes, I had told her everything that Lucius had told me, and even though she had felt some relax that her brother was still alive, or so it seemed, she at least acted as though she felt bad for me, and showed the greatest appreciation that I was doing this for her brother.

Ever since Harry had... passed away, I had turned to Ginny to talk to. Harry had been my best friend after all, and I could've told him anything, and whether he understood it or not, the fact that I could just tell him made me feel so much better. I suppose the fact that Harry had dated Ginny, and had confided in her before he... passed away, had made me talk to her like I had to him.

Turning over I got up, my hair a complete mess, and rubbed my eyes a bit, as I nodded and waved her off, only to sit in my room in complete silence, as though I could sit and let time wash my problem away.

My bags weren't packed that morning. To be perfectly honest, I had figured that if I took a lot of time to get ready that the driver would have just driven off, but once again, this optimistic way of thinking for me all came crashing down when I saw a man standing at the doorway, twirling a pair of car keys around his fingers. "This isn't right!" Mrs. Weasley tried to say in my defense, as if the driver could do something about it, "No girl should have to do this."

The man frowned, looking down at Mrs. Weasley, since he had been rather tall. "Cry me a river and build me a bridge, Mrs." He said, dully, looking around, and his eyes had stopped with sudden interest when they landed on me.

I had never found myself attractive. It still makes me laugh today, remembering the look on that mans face, like I was his lunch, and he was very hungry for it. In school I had been more concentrated on my school work or the S.P.E.W rather then the way I looked, although, there was that every once and a while, in particular in my seventh year, where I had to look just right... for Ron.

Thinking about him made me wonder more and more where he was, and if he had just given up on trying to escape from where he was, or if this whole thing was just a bluff. If Ron was actually dead, and I was really falling into Lucius' trap, or if Ron was actually free, fighting in the war, and completely healthy, and I was just making one of the worst mistakes in my life. It would all come out when the divorce papers came to me, that is, if Lucius took the papers for Ron to sign first.

The image of him seeing the papers after I signed them first was like shoving a knife into my heart. What if he just gave up trying to get out if he saw that... that is, if he was even alive, or if he was even in the prison. Oh, everything was so confusing then, and I had so many questions, but one that came around often, consisted of just two words. Why me?

There were so many others who were purebloods and probably willing to marry Draco Malfoy, so why me? Why would the girl, whom he had seemed to hate more then anyone else over the years, be the one that he was going to have to marry?

The man took off his hat suddenly, and fixed his dark brown hair, and his light hazel eyes met mine. "Are you Hermione Granger?" He asked, his voice much more... maybe a better way to describe it would be, firmer, then it had been when he was speaking with Mrs. Weasley, as if he was trying to speak more manly.

"Yes." I said, rather coldly, because I knew exactly what he was there for.

To take me away from the place that I was actually happy in, even though the man I loved more then anything else in the world wasn't there with me. "Well then, it's surly a pleasure to be driving you. I'm Jonathan Mikhail." He said, sticking out his hand, politely.

As far as I was concerned, any man associated with Lucius Malfoy was no one that I would like to have been friendly towards, so I simply stared at the hand, not shaking it, and said, my voice as icy as I could possibly make it, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Jonathan took back his hand, obviously resisting to frown a bit as he placed his hat back on the top of his head and then looked back at me, the hunger in his eyes fading slightly, most likely because of my un-welcoming attitude with him. "Well, we should be off then. No need to keep Mr. Malfoy waiting." He said, walking towards the front door of the burrow and opening it, rolling his eyes as the bolts of the door squeaked as the door opened.

I sighed, and looked over at Mrs. Weasley. As far as I was concerned, there would be no more crying. I just would not allow it, after all, I had been crying ever since Ron had left and that was a while ago, and it seemed as though crying had just brought me more bad luck. More importantly though, I would not let Draco Malfoy have the simple pleasure of seeing me cry. Oh no, he could just forget about that, because it just would not happen, ever... or at least, as long as I could hold it off.

Mrs. Weasley looked over at me, and a sudden warm smile ran over her face. The smile that obviously proved that she felt that not even she could make things better for me now. There was no hope left for me... or at least that's what everyone else thought. I, on the other hand, still believed that Ron would save me, and to believe something like that took every last bit of hope out of me, which basically meant that I was praying to merlin that nothing else this bad could possibly happen to me, but when I think on it now, I was obviously forgetting then, that I didn't have very good luck.

"Good luck, dear." Mrs. Weasley said, giving me a big hug that made me never want to let go, as I took in the scent of her perfume, and as I began to shut my eyes as I was embraced in the hug, I heard her mutter, "Merlin knows you're going to need it."

I acted as though I hadn't heard it when she released me from the hug, and turned to face Jonathan. When he felt my gaze on him, he bent down slowly, pointing outwards, as though he was showing a Queen the path to her room or something. I, however, surly did not feel like a Queen, and if I had, I probably would have been one that resembled the Queen in Alice Wonderland, because, at that moment, I wanted to cut off the head of anyone who assisted Lucius Malfoy in this dreadful task.

"Ladies first, of course." Jonathan said, looking up from bowing his head and pointing to glance over at me, with a big white smile plastered over his tan colored face.

"If you were a real gentleman, you wouldn't be apart of any of this." I said, in a matter-of-fact tone, as I walked passed him, through the opened door, my hands clenching on tightly to the holders of my bags.

Now he couldn't help, but frown as he said his Goodbye's to Mrs. Weasley, who I could have sworn I heard her curse him, as she shut the door to the Burrow. I sat in the back seat, preferring to sit back there rather then sit next to him. If anything, I was planning to be as stiff as I possibly could be since Mrs. Weasley was no longer around.

I watched as Jonathan got into the car, taking a seat, and turning on the car. The first few minutes of the ride to the Malfoy Mansion had been a rather quiet one. I noticed the glances Jonathan had taken in my direction every so often out of the rear view mirror. "You really should try smiling," Jonathan said, when he finally decided to speak, "Every man loves a happy woman."

This brought a chuckle to escape from my lips. He obviously did not know anything about what he was getting himself into when he decided to speak to me at the certain time. What was it with people and their really _bad timing _around me? "I already have a man who loves me," I said, stiffly, looking out the window, "And I don't need to smile for him to know it."

Jonathan let out another sigh, looking forward, but didn't stop talking just yet. "Well, you mine as well get over him. Chances are he won't survive a week once the divorce papers are signed." He said, as if he was a know it all.

This angered me... a bit. "You have no idea what you're talking about! You don't even know him, so you shouldn't just assume that he won't last..." I refrained from telling him of my hopes that Ron would save me, like he was Prince Charming or something, for the fear of just getting laughed at.

Maybe there was no point in having hope... I still can't believe that I hadn't given up on Ron at that point in time...

Jonathan, however, found this all funny anyway, without me mentioning the Prince Charming part, as he let out a light laugh. "I know I don't know him, Miss, but I do happen to know Lucius Malfoy. Now do you really think he'll let your dear, sweet, husband survive after the divorce papers are signed?"

I didn't respond to that, obviously beginning to think on that fact as well, and ignored Jonathan when he added, "That's exactly what I thought."

The rest of the car ride was quiet. I had far too much on my mind to talk; that, and I figured the more I talked to this man, the more I would learn... the more I would doubt... the more I would hope, and a girl can only with stand so much of all three. Learning, doubting, and hoping, could really kill a person all at once.

I knew we were getting close when I began to feel that the car wasn't shaking as much. The road we had taken was filled with gravel, it was as if we were just driving through a random field, as though we were taking a short cut, but soon I learned that we were going up on a dirt path. It came to my attention that the Malfoy Manor was surly not where it used to be, and I wondered why. Moving on, though, the car drove more smoothly at a certain point, and that's when I noticed the nice pavement, and knew that only the Malfoy's would spend this much time on their drive way, for within the pavement were glints of gold and silver, and every once and a while, we would see the signature of Slytherin drawn into it, which was normally a snake, or just the letter "S".

Even the driveway was leading us further upward. Why were they living so far away from everyone else? "This is so strange... I never expected the Malfoy's to be so..."

"Distant?"

Looking up suddenly, and over at Jonathan I bit my lip. Were the Malfoy's... no, they couldn't really be, hiding... could they? I didn't bother asking about that though, because by the time I could come up with just the right question to ask, the car had come to a gentle halt, in front of two gigantic silver doors. The door of the car was opened, and Jonathan muttered, "Come now, dear. Time is of the essence."

I stepped out of the car and realized that I was not only being thrown into a marriage, but thrown into a life style that was the complete opposite of what I was use to. These people had no real value's, because they got everything. How can you value something that you can get with the simple snap of your fingers?

There was a bit of a silence as I heard the back trunk of the car shut, as I stood in front of the car, looking up at the unbelievably large mansion, the car door still hung open, and my eyes squinting at the sunlight that reflected off the silver doors.

The front of the house consisted of a white exterior texture, with two large windows that reached from the top and to the bottom of the whole first floor on opposite sides of the large door, both windows covered with black colored silk curtains, and with bushes all along the wall, parting from the point the windows met the door, and then starting over again once it met the second window on the opposite side.

With a gulp, I watched as Jonathan moved forward, my bags in his hands, and walked up the porch steps towards the doors. Moving suddenly, I grabbed both of my bags out of his hands, stopping him. Once I grabbed them, I looked up at him, and found that our eyes had met.

He had that looked back in his eyes again. That look like he wanted me so bad. _Oh merlin... _I thought to myself, but found myself not looking away from his gaze. I was having another one of my mischievous moments. Maybe I was doing it just to taunt the man, because I knew he would never get me, or maybe I was just doing it to plead with him, as though there was still a chance that he could help me. Either way, the gaze was soon broken, with another mans voice.

"Mr. Mikhail, I'm assuming that this is the girl that you've been assigned in bringing here, for young Mr. Malfoy." A man said, his voice at medium level, and he stood very tall, a bit more then about 6''2 if anything.

"Ah... yes, yes sir. Here she is..." Jonathan said, looking at the man and giving him a small, quick smile, and then murmured quietly, "In the flesh..."

"_Locomotor Mortis!" _Malfoy exclaimed, his patience with me obviously dispersing after a few moments of just being within the same room as me.

There was one thing that was for sure though. Nether of us wanted to get married to the other. It was something that we didn't need to verbally agree on, it was just sort of... there. Why it was though, I had yet to find out, because from the moment that I had stepped into the gigantic study, that I had figured I was probably going to spend most of my time in because of all the books, Malfoy had yet to speak a word... until he casted the spell of course.

My breaths came out slowly after a moment, my legs unable to move even the slightest bit. It had certainly shut me up, which was probably his main reason of casting the spell on me in the first... either that, or he just felt like being cruel... nether of the two choices seemed as unlikeable at the other.

"Are you going to keep quiet now?" He asked, walking back over to the long table that stretched vertically along the large room, and sitting on it, his white-blond hair covering his ice-cold blue eyes.

When I first took sight of those eyes I jumped, and even after that I found myself still doing it, even if you couldn't exactly see me do it. They were so cold... and over the years the anger hadn't lessened within them. It gave you a feeling as though you didn't know what he was capable of, and it was scary, and at the moment the fear was at it's worse.

I was going to have to marry this man? This man whose hated me, and probably still does... this man with the eyes of ice, who could simply kill me once he found something better. I guess this is the part of the story where I tell all of you that I just gave up on Ron, and figured that I would never get out of this hell hole that I was placed in, and bowed down to Malfoy as though he was my King? Well, let me be the first to tell you, that if your looking for something like that, some story about a girl acting as though she's Malfoy's slave, then you better go up to the type right corner of the computer and click the button that has a small X on it, because it simply isn't happening.

Frankly, as I sat there, with my legs frozen and pathetic, and his eyes obviously glaring down at me past the few strands of his hair that were covering them, my hope had never been stronger. I _knew_ Ron would save me from this one day, maybe not at the moment, but I would find him, and that was just that. I knew it by the look in Malfoy's eyes. The doubt. He was doubting something, I could tell, but it wasn't the marriage.

It seemed that the two of us, as we sat there in silence, had come to another final decision, it was going to happen. This marriage was going to take place.

Finally I nodded, unable to stand waiting any longer for the unbelievably long and eccentric explanation on why I would have to marry him; Draco Malfoy. The thing was, it wasn't as long as I thought it would be, actually, when I asked him why I had to marry him, he explained it all in six words and about eight syllables to be exact;

"Because you're the only one left."

**Authors Note: I know, it took forever, I know, I know, I know, but with my vacation, another vacation, and school starting up again (im a freshman) it was just really hard, especially when I wanted to get another story out and published. Anywhoo, here it is, I hope it was interesting enough for you. Did you expect his explanation to be how it was? Well, I told you that you would learn why Hermione had to marry Malfoy... I never told you that you would learn _every_ single reason whys she would have to marry him. Hehe, that's next chapter, but, moving back to this chapter, what did you think of it? What are your (nice and kind) thoughts and word of wisdom that are polite and helpful? Sorry if I messed up on grammar and spelling, thank you so much for all who reviewed!**


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione finds herself being forced to listen to... most of the explanation on why she must marry Malfoy, and is also forced to sign the divorce papers, that may or may not have already been signed by Ron... read to find out whether it is or not.

**Chapter 2: Task Of The Heart**

"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed."

-Said By Carl Jung

_It had been our seventh year. I remember it clearly because it was that one day where there was the slight tingling feeling within my stomach like I knew something was going to happen, I just knew it, but of course I wasn't willing to face it right away. Because of this, I spent most of the day at the library, while the rest of the people in my house were mainly outside, enjoying the nice Spring whether, while I sat alone with pale skin and a book that smelt... old, if that was even possible._

_Frankly, I wasn't concentrating on the smell, but of the feeling. The feeling that I got, it was sort of like the one you got when you were about to cry, yet ten times less depressing, because it was like there was a bomb about to set off inside of you, and you had this feeling, like you wanted to scream. I didn't want to scream, though, I wanted to smile._

_Smile about what though? I remember that was my only thought as I pretended to concentrate on the book I was holding, until finally I just couldn't stand it anymore and put the book back and walked out, my school books under my arms, and my hair in a messy bun, and I'll have you know that I didn't make it messy on purpose or anything, frankly I had tried to make it as neat as possible because I wanted to look good, but my hair... it's just always messy. The frizz makes it that way, and so, instead of a nice bun, I get a messy bun._

_See how my thoughts can sometimes drift away so easily? One minute I'm talking about walking out of the library, and the next thing I know, I'm rambling on about my hair. That's the way I've always been, but on this day, I couldn't lose my thoughts on this one thing. Why did I want to smile?_

_Of course I figured something was going to happen, I mean something had to of happened sooner or later, I just didn't know what, and by the time I had made it to the stairway I began to assume that I was going mental. I had figured that I couldn't just accept the fact that I might have actually been having a good day. Taking my last few steps up the stairs, I remember that being my last few thoughts until I saw Ron standing in front of the portrait of the fat lady. He was pacing._

"_Ron? Ron what's wrong?" I asked him, seeing that look on his face._

_Ron has a lot more emotion then I actually give him credit for. Frankly he's really in touch with his feelings, to the point where it sort of worries me... because there's probably going to come a time where he is going to need to hide his feelings, and he just won't be able to. Anyway though, I noticed how he suddenly froze, and turned around to look at me._

_He was still lanky then, but there was something different about him. If there was any point in time where I could say that Ron hadn't been very lanky it probably would have been then. Not even now can I think of comparing him to how he was then and saying that he looks better now. It was his last year playing Quidditch and he wanted it to be... one that he would never forget. He wouldn't take any mess ups that year, I even remember him getting upset about a shot getting passed him during practice._

_If you haven't gotten my point by now then let me further explain. He was tall, but then again he normally was tall, but that year if he had lifted up his shirt you could've, after looking passed some of the brief and unnoticeably red hairs, some muscle forming on his chests. Now trust me, this is sad. This is worse then sad, this is depressing, because after seeing him without his shirt on for just one night, by complete accident, I couldn't stop thinking about him, and that's not the sad part. There wasn't even much to see! It wasn't as though he had a six pack, and you could barely tell that he had anything to show off in the first place when he had all his clothes on, but just the one muscle he had, impressed me enough to send me into mindless, girly, daydreams about him, that Parvati and Padma would take note of at times when I hung around them, which was barely ever, but they were always keeping a close eye on everyone, those two..._

_The point is, Ronald Weasley was looking at his best at that certain time, and not that I'm the type of girl to really concentrate on looks, it certainly gave him a bit of an upside when it came to the feelings that we shared... that nether of us seemed to really want to admit in a serious, heart to heart, private, matter._

"_I'm quitting the Quidditch team." _

_It was completely out of character for him, and it just didn't make any since. The boy loved it. It was his life. I had spent years listening to him and Harry, speak of Quidditch teams and players, half of which Ron only knew of because Harry didn't get a chance to learn about many of them while he stayed with the Dursley's. More to the point though, it just didn't make any sense._

"_What, why?" I asked him, my head tilting as I moved towards him slightly._

_I didn't move too close though, because this is Hermione Granger we're talking about here. Even I'm willing to admit that I'm a prude, but it isn't my fault that my sophistication and good manners had been unable to slip away from my conscience and mind, ever since before I had started school. _

"_It's Harry, Hermione... we should be with him, he shouldn't have to be alone!"_

_Harry had left Hogwarts to search for the horocrux's, and yet he left unexpectedly. He had snuck out the night of Bill and Fleur's wedding, when everyone was so preoccupied trying to be happy. Ginny was... mental, to the point where if she would of found him, she would've strangled him... with just one hand. Being angry though, it was just another way she could hide her pain, and boy, did she hide it well. It was one of those traits that I wished I had, but then again, there were many things about Ginny that I wish I had. Like confidence._

"_Ronald..."_

_I had called him Ronald, which was a bad sign. That year we had, had a number of fights alone, about random unimportant reasons, so unimportant that we didn't even apologize about them anymore. I think we had finally begun to learn that these fights, were just a way to further fire up the tension between the two of us. Even now, standing somewhat away from him, I could feel it. It was the kind of tension that made your heart beat fast, and have you standing on the tip of your toes, hanging by a thread, until it was over._

"_Hermione, please... just don't even start..."_

"_Start what! I'm not going to start anything, Ron, but we don't even know where Harry is, so how can we just go help him? Well we can't! It just isn't possible. He left us, Ronald! Don't you understand that? He wanted to be alone, he didn't want us to be there with him, and now I'm beginning to agree with him..." I paused, trying to think up a reason why I would possibly not want to be with Harry, "Seventh year is a really important year, after all. If we don't complete this year, then our six years at Hogwarts have been turned to nothing! Honestly... I don't know what we were thinking when we even said we would go..."_

_Ron looked at me incredulously, his eyes wide, and his shoulders dropping slightly. He couldn't believe all that I had just said, and by the disappointment swelling up in his eyes I could tell that he wasn't very happy about it. _

"_Yes, Hermione... what were we thinking... School is far more important then saving the lives of millions, one of them being our best friend."_

_Ron said this walking passed me, shaking his head. I stood there, and even with him walking away from me, the tension was still there. It had always been there really, even in our first year, but now it had grown to its peak, and I knew that the two of us would drive each other mad, until we could get it to go away... It never went away._

_That night, unlike the night he left me, I didn't let him get away so easily._

"_Ron wait!" I said, quickly._

_He didn't stop walking away, but then again, I didn't stop following either..._

There was a silence in the room now that Malfoy had walked out, but I knew he would be back soon enough. We had argued for the past fifteen minutes, mainly because I wanted him to explain further and he wanted me to sit still and shut up. Nether did what the other wanted, causing him to walk out, and me to stay sitting on the floor. I made my way over to the wall, a shiver going up and down my spine slightly as I did so.

The room was so cold, and the fact that I was scared to death of what was going to happen didn't make me feel any better. I crossed my arms, finding myself to begin to curl up in a corner within the room. Amazing, isn't it? Me, Hermione Granger, afraid of something?

It wasn't like afraid of having to marry Malfoy, frankly I had full reason to think that I could take care of myself when it came to him, but Ron's face constantly ran through my head over and over again. How long would he last when the divorce papers were signed? What would he do when he found out that I had to marry Malfoy? I sniffled, turning over to lean my head up against the wall.

If only Harry was around... He always had a way with fixing the problems... either that or he would just make up some new conflicts, but mainly the three of us, Harry, Ron, and I, would concentrate on making things better, and when they were really bad that's when Ron came in. We could be in a life and death situation and he would be able to make it... entertaining to say the least. My two protectors... together they made me feel safe, but most importantly, they made me feel needed. Ha, merlin knows the two wouldn't have lasted a day without me around when it came to Hogwarts. The three of us... we depended on each other more then anyone else, even through the bad.

The door suddenly opened, causing me to look up. He was back, again, and this time he wasn't alone. Lucius stood tall, as usual, his face almost identical to his son's, and yet it looked like he far more worried or exhausted. I lifted my head up a bit, my eyes running from one man to the other. Honestly, they could've been brothers.

"You can stand up, the spell should've worn off by now." Malfoy said, tonelessly.

"Unless of course, you like sitting on the floor?" Lucius added, with a trickle of a smirk appearing upon his lips.

Oh he was hilarious really; take note of the sarcasm. I stood up slowly, using the wall as some sort of support, and then standing up straight once I caught my balance completely. Dusting myself off slightly, my attention fell on the two once more, and I lifted my chin up slightly. "Are you going to explain what's going on now?" I asked, keeping my voice strong. If the two knew I was scared... oh, I don't even want to think about that now. The Malfoy's... they normally felt like they had accomplished something when the people around them were frightened, like they were the cause of it. When really, at this point in time, I didn't think there was one single trait that really frightened me about them... other then those eyes, but those shouldn't count.

"Only if you keep quiet and sit still, then again, if you don't, we could always make you." Lucius said, his voice a mixture of an eery calmness that was far more intimidating when you actually heard it, rather then read about it, "Now, please, be seated."

I moved towards the long table, and took a seat slowly, my eyes always falling towards them every so often to see what they were up to. The last thing I wanted was for them to do something sneaky without me noticing it all. My eyes ran over Lucius, taking note of the suit case he was carrying on his side as I did so.

"Very well then, Draco, give her the sum of it." Lucius said, walking over to the table and placing his suitcase down, opening it up and beginning to shuffle through it quietly as he did so.

Malfoy looked down at me, and sighed. He was dying. I knew he was. It was so obvious that he was aching for something and someone that was so much more to me, to him. If I didn't know better, I would say that Draco Malfoy was looking for his true love. Maybe I really didn't know better, but the thought was always in the back of my head.

"With the war many people have run off. They've either left the country or have ended up fighting back in the war. People are dying, and the women we have come upon so far... for this... they haven't been... good enough." Malfoy said, and I could sense the utter frustration in his voice, as he looked away from me slightly.

My eyebrow rose. What did he mean by good enough? How the hell was I good enough for him? Not to say that I didn't think I was, but when you really thought about it from his point of few, I wasn't. None of this was making any sense whatsoever.

"Draco needs a wife who has already love, Ms. Granger, so do not think highly of yourself, because you're all that we could find." Lucius came in suddenly, breaking my thoughts, "We've searched far and wide around here. The women have seemed to have lost all sense of what the word love is."

I snorted suddenly, and looked over at him. "And whose fault is that?"

"Potter's of course!" Malfoy spat, quickly retaliating from my little comment.

Our eyes met again, this time the hatred was clear, and the tension needed to be cut with a very sharp knife for it to all go away. Lucius on the other hand, didn't seem to mind, and instead just sort of chuckled slightly. "Now, now, Draco, don't let her get to you. We've got more important things to deal with, like the bond..." The bond. Oh know... Lucius turned back to face me.

"See, Ms. Granger, my son and I have decided to take a step forward in further preserving our lives. Since I am already married and in love, my wife and I have created a bond in which, if someone attempts to kill me, she will die instead, do you understand that? Draco, on the other hand, does not have a wife, obviously, and not only needs one soon, but needs one that will be able to love him..."

"And if they don't love me, then it's good enough that they love someone else. The love they have will be passed on, almost as if I'm the one they love instead..." Draco said, stepping in.

"And that is where you come in." Lucius said, finishing up the explanation, "You love Mr. Weasley, and you love him enough to use that love in creating a bond with my son that will save him from a chance at dying... a chance that I am not willing to take."

It was all so... horrible. These men, they didn't believe in true love, they believed in using people as steps to their stairway to heaven, and would use whoever and do whatever to get what the wanted done. I crossed my arms, staring at the two. "But I don't understand why I would possibly have to actually marry him."

Draco nodded slightly, as though he wanted to know the same thing. I was glad we agreed on something.

"For show of course. Just because we're in a time of war does not mean we cannot at least act as though we're happy, and because the two of you will be involved in a bond, the two of you must be near each other most of the time. If you aren't, then the bond just doesn't come in to play, which means that marriage is the best that we can do. That, and I know colleagues who need something to celebrate about during this time. There has been so much pressure on all of us... that there should be nothing better then to have a great big celebration."

Ha, this was great. Now they were putting me into a drama. This had to be a T.V. show... a soap opera. Where the bloody hell was my script! It clearly need some changing! Those thoughts quickly slipped away when Lucius took out a packet, and placed it down in front of me. "And we can start as soon as possible... once you sign that, of course."

I looked down at it, and my heart skipped a few beats. It was the divorce papers. I gulped, gripping my hands so then I didn't quickly move to the last page to see if Ron had signed it already or not, mainly because I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of the two men. My eyes drifted back to Lucius.

"Now I must be off, but I'll let the two of you talk, and if there are anymore questions then we shall discuss them once I return."

Lucius said this while shutting his suitcase and taking it off the table, moving towards the door.

"I'll be back around dinner. By then I expect the papers to be signed and ready to go. Draco, make sure you show her to_ your _room once the two of you have finished here."

And with that said the man was off, and out the door, leaving me to stare at the packet in front of me. The room was full of silence once again, as Malfoy and I were now left alone by the older men. Malfoy shoved his looked away from me, out through the big windows within the room, his eyes blinking every so often, as though he in thought about something.

"I'm going to set out a few rules."

I looked up at him suddenly. At that point in time I even laughed at the thought of me ever following any rules he had set out. Guess things change over time... I looked away from him, my eyes rolling slightly as he began to explain rules that were unimportant, and slowly began to flip through the package.

"Also, since I'm supposed to be loyal and a... good husband for the bond to work, or at least from what father says, I expect to have sex every so often, in particularly at least five days a week. I tend to get cranky without it, and I know you don't want that..."

He said it threateningly, but I remember holding back laughs. _In your dreams..._ I remember thinking to myself, as I finally got to the last page, and as my eyes scanned the page. There were two spots that needed to be signed at. One spot was for my signature, the other was for Ron's. My eye's widened suddenly...

"And if you don't follow these rules, I will have that Weasel of yours killed. I might even do it myself if I have to..."

**A/N Well, that was it, and too be perfectly honest, I could of done much better. Myabe I'll go back and edit this chapter latter on, but for now, this is it. The grammar and everything should be okay, since I did check over it more then once. Anywhoo, what did you think of it? I thought this chapter wasn't as good as the other two, and I know the explanation may be hard to follow. Oh, and by the way, how did you like that little cliffhanger I left you at the end, the one where your not sure if Ron signed it first or not? You'll find out next chapter, hehe, thanks for the reviews. **


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